


Things that go Bump in the Night

by greeneggs101



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Keyblade Summer Camp, The Unversed (Kingdom Hearts), Young!Destiny Island Trio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-24 06:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21334054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: After defeating Vanitas in Neverland, and therefore changing the course of the battle that followed, Aqua thought that she would be able to relax in the Land of Departure. Maybe start training her new apprentice at a sort of Summer Keyblade Training Camp.And then the kids bring home a new pet."What do you guys got there?"The three seemed to confer silently among themselves for a moment before Riku nodded and whispered something to Sora.“We found him outside near the benches,” Kairi explained. “I think he’s hurt.”“Can we keep him?” Sora pleaded as he turned around.Aqua frowned, wondering who ‘he’ was. Then she caught a glimpse of the...thingin Sora’s arms.An unversed with bright red jagged eyes stared back up at her.
Relationships: Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua & Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Pre-Aqua/Terra, Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora & Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 82
Kudos: 366





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this fic! It's a bit different than what I usually write, but was inspired by my campers this past year. Plus I love writing unversed. I was just struck by the image of baby Sora staring up at Aqua in a sort of precious moments style with a Flood inversed in his arms saying "can we keep him?" 
> 
> And then I wrote a whole fic around this concept. I hope you enjoy it! :D
> 
> Huge thank you to [ Fireborn](http://https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireborn) for the beta read! Always making my fics better one em-dash at a time... 😂

“I’ve done it. He’s finally finished.” 

It had taken every ounce of strength Aqua had left, but she had done it. The boy in the mask landed hard on the ground and had yet to get up. Wisps and tendrils of black smoke rose from his body as the boy started to fade from existence. 

“Terra, Ven… you’re safe.”

Aqua struggled to move closer, to make sure the threat was really gone, but she barely managed two steps before she collapsed. Before she lost consciousness, she watched as the boy in the mask disappeared completely, his keyblade dematerializing into the same black smoke. 

She had _won._

Aqua let out a small smile, unable to keep her eyes open. Exhaustion crept up on her like a blanket, and she let sleep take her. She would tell Terra and Ven the good news later…

_\--- Two Years Later ---_

Aqua let out a sigh and stretched her shoulders, then set the timer on the oven. The carrot cake would be good for dessert, and she even promised Terra to not put as much sugar in it as she normally would. 

“Shh… We gotta—”

“I know, I know!” 

Frowning, Aqua turned towards the door, watching in amusement as the castle’s newest and youngest residents attempted to sneak past. Riku was leading the way, dodging just out of sight of the door when she turned. Though a little sneakier than his teacher, he also seemed to have Terra’s lack of awareness about his size; Aqua could still see his shoes and hand where it stuck out from the door frame. 

She chuckled and stepped closer, catching Riku when he tried to spy on her again. Kairi and Sora were never far behind, and soon all three of them stood in front of her. Ven’s apprentice seemed to be trying to hide something though. “What are you three up to?”

“Nothing!” All three shouted in unison, and Aqua let out a laugh. Riku and Kairi both immediately stepped in front of Sora, who turned, further obscuring whatever it was he was hiding. 

She stepped out into the hallway. “C’mon. You guys don’t have to keep secrets from me.” She tried offering a smile. 

The three seemed to confer silently among themselves for a moment before Riku nodded and whispered something to Sora. 

“We found him outside near the benches,” Kairi explained. “I think he’s hurt.” 

“Can we keep him?” Sora pleaded as he turned around. 

Aqua frowned, wondering who ‘he’ was. Then she caught a glimpse of the...thing in Sora’s arms. 

A small indigo body with bright red jagged eyes that stared back up at her.

Stormfall appeared in her hand with barely a thought, and she raised it to strike. “Sora! I need you to—” She cut herself off when Sora flinched and immediately pulled the creature closer, shielding it with his body. Riku frowned and spread his arms out in front of Sora. 

“You’re scaring him, Miss Aqua!” Kairi shouted, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. 

Aqua frowned and lowered her blade slightly. She hadn’t meant to frighten the children, but if she didn’t get rid of the Unversed then— 

She raised her blade again.

“That thing is dangerous. I just need to…” She trailed off when she realized that the kids wouldn’t move from their spots, huddling even closer to the monster. The Unversed hadn’t budged from its spot in Sora’s arms, still staring up at her with those jagged red eyes. 

As if waiting for something. 

The stare put Aqua on edge. “Terra! Ven!” Maybe if all three of them cornered it they could get rid of it with minimal damage.

“He’s hurt,” Sora mumbled, his voice muffled from where he had buried his face into the creature’s back. “He’s not dangerous.” He rubbed his face into the creature’s back, his breath hitching on a sob. 

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Riku protested, running a hand down Sora’s back to calm his friend down. 

“He was just a little hungry,” Kairi added, holding her hand out for the monster to inspect. She let out a giggle when the creature pawed at her hand, and she reached over to pet it. 

Aqua was shocked when the Flood made no move to injure any of the kids, just shuddered and twitched. 

“Aqua?!” 

“Aqua, what’s wrong?”

Ven and Terra arrived, both of them with their keyblades in hand as well. 

Ven noticed his young apprentice first. “Sora? What have you got there, buddy?” He held on to his keyblade even as he knelt down to inspect the monster. 

“Ven! Be careful!” Aqua chided instinctively. 

Ven sent her an easy grin and a nod, before turning back to his apprentice. “Wow, that’s uh… really something. Where’d you find him?”

“Outside by the benches,” Riku said, kneeling down as well to pet the monster’s head. The Unversed wiggled a bit but to Aqua’s continued amazement, it didn’t attack any of them. Her fighting stance faltered but she still stood ready. The air was still tense and there was no reason to believe the situation wouldn’t turn violent at any moment. 

“I think he’s hurt,” Sora mumbled. “He’s scared.”

“He is?” Ven held out his hand. 

Aqua’s grip tightened on her keyblade. 

The Flood seemed to sniff at the hand for a moment, before looking up at Ven with a glare that Aqua felt was much more knowing than the standard Unversed. 

Quick as a lightning strike, the creature swiped at Ven’s hand a lot harder than it had pawed at any of the children. Bright flecks of blood trickled out of a deep scratch on the blond's hand. 

Instantly, Aqua raised her blade again, but Ven held out a hand. 

“It’s okay. I figured he might not like me.” 

Aqua still held her blade aloft, at least until she felt a warmth near her elbow. Glancing over, she saw Terra shake his head minutely. 

“He’s got this covered. Just trust him.” 

Terra’s voice was quiet, as it almost always was nowadays, as if he was scared to let any anger show ever again. 

Ever since what Xehanort did on that battlefield. How hard Aqua and Ven had fought to free him from—

“He’s scared,” Sora reiterated, startling Aqua out of the memory. 

“How can you tell?” Ven wondered, already pulling out a potion to pour onto its hand. As soon as the liquid touched the wound, it healed quickly. 

Sora closed his eyes, seeming to think about it. “His heart is hurt. That would be scary for anyone.” 

“You got that right,” Ven huffed, reaching up to ruffle the brown spikes that stuck straight up in the air. “So you can feel his heart?”

Sora nodded, Riku and Kairi following by example. 

“Well, I suppose he can stay for a bit then,” Ven grinned. “As long as he promises not to hurt any of you.”

“He promises!” Sora eagerly stated, hugging the monster. Riku and Kairi cheered. 

The Unversed didn’t look as pleased with the statement but also looked resigned to its fate as Sora’s new pet.

“Ven!” Aqua protested. It couldn’t possibly— Not in the castle—

“He’s hurt, Aqua.” Ven and Sora both turned their blue-eyed gazes upon her. 

Aqua bit her lip. She couldn’t deny that look when it was just Ven that turned it on her Now it was doubled. 

“We can keep an eye on him,” Terra said. 

Aqua turned to him, surprised at his words, but he stared back at her evenly. He didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t have to, reassuring her with his gaze.

“Besides,” Ven added, standing up to speak quietly to her. Behind him, Sora had set the Unversed on the ground, and the three kids resumed petting it. “If we don’t let them at least keep him for right now, they’ll probably just sneak him in later. It might be better to just know where he is rather than worrying about where he might be.”

When did Ven get to be so wise? 

She looked back at the kids and the Flood. It really wasn’t doing anything at the moment, even as the kids petted and poked it roughly as young hands would do. 

Finally, she let out a sigh. “Fine. It can stay—” 

She meant to add ‘for one night only,’ but was cut off as the kids burst into a loud cheer. Sora picked up the creature awkwardly and bowed, the other two mimicking the gesture before all three ran off to their shared room. 

Terra chuckled at the sight and followed. “I’ll see if the creature is physically hurt. Most of the time they dissipated after a few blows of the keyblade, so I’m not sure how one can be hurt and not gone.” 

Ven nodded. “I’ll grab a potion just in case…” He turned to run off, but Aqua caught him by the arm before he could leave. 

“Seriously, Ven. It’s an Unversed. Remember? We don’t even know _why_ they disappeared two years ago, much less where they came from.” 

Ven glanced down the hallway, a strange look overcoming his face, one that Aqua had been growing more familiar within the months following their decisive battle with Master Xehanort. 

“I can’t really explain it. But… I felt kinda connected to it. Maybe Sora does too.” He shrugged, glancing up at her through his bangs. “As you said, we don’t know why they really appeared either. Didn’t you say that Master Eraqus called them fledgling emotions? What’s so dangerous about emotions? If it’s not acting dangerously, is it really that bad?” 

Aqua opened her mouth but closed it again after a moment, not sure how to answer that. 

He offered her another one of those strange smiles and ran off. 

She glanced in the two directions her friends had gone, not sure who to follow. In the end, though, she went back to the book she had left on the table to occupy her while the cake baked. She had promised herself that she would trust Terra and Ven in their own decisions. They were just as strong as she was, if not stronger. 

She just wished it wasn’t so hard. 

\------

_Thunk! Clap! Thunk Thunk!_

The sounds of practice swords hitting each other rang out across the courtyard. 

“Keep your guard up, Sora!” Ven shouted loudly. 

“You gotta let your blade move you, Riku!” Terra called out, his voice a little quieter than Ven’s. 

Aqua didn’t think that either was getting through to their apprentices, who honestly looked like they were playing more than practicing. 

Sora giggled when he managed to dodge one of Riku’s heavy-handed blows. He turned quickly to try and land his own, but Riku shifted out of the way at the last second. 

“Ah c’mon! No fair! I almost had you that time!” 

“No way! Too slow, Sora!” 

“Riku’s leaving his back exposed,” Kairi observed quietly. 

Aqua turned to look at her apprentice. The child was petting the Unversed in her lap absently, her eyes focused on the playful sparring match in front of them. “What makes you say that Kairi?”

Kairi shrugged. “When he dodges. His back is exposed for a moment before he retaliates. If Sora is quick enough…” She trailed off with a shrug. 

Aqua was just about to agree with her apprentice when she saw the Flood in Kairi's lap nodding as if it _also_ agreed with Kairi’s statement. 

Frowning, Aqua furrowed her brow, staring at the monster for a moment. It had to be a trick of the light or something. There was no way it could understand them. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to her apprentice. 

“Well, do you want to try against Riku and see if your idea works?” 

“Sure!” Kairi gently nudged the Unversed off her lap. “Be good for Master Aqua, okay, Bunny?” 

The Flood somehow looked even grumpier than usual, though Aqua wasn’t sure if it was because of the name the kids had come up for it, or because it was left in her care. She turned her attention back to the match in front of her. “Kairi’s subbing in for Sora.” 

“Okay!” Sora backed away without issue, handing his practice blade over to Kairi. Before he ran off, Riku reached out to ruffle his spikes, which caused Sora to let out a peal of laughter. Then Aqua had company again as Sora ran over, reaching out to pet the Flood. “Hi, Bunny.” 

The Flood twitched on the bench before climbing up Sora’s arm and settling on his shoulders. 

In the grassy arena, Riku and Kairi bowed at each other before holding their wooden practice blades aloft. 

_Thunk! Clap Clap! Thunk! _

Aqua tried to focus on the sparring match in front of her. Riku wasn’t one to hold back, no matter his opponent, but Kairi seemed to be holding her own, using the blocking techniques that Aqua had taught her. 

“How’s, er, Bunny doing, Sora?” 

Ven came over and knelt down to Sora’s eye level. Out of the corner of her eye, Aqua watched as Ven held a hand out to the Flood, but pulled it away the second the Unversed reached out to scratch it. 

“He’s better. His heart’s not hurting as much,” Sora responded, petting Bunny’s back. “He still cries at night sometimes, though.” 

The Flood let out a violent shudder and wiggled until Sora had to set it back down. It instantly glared up at Sora before hopping back up on the bench, turning his back to both of them. 

“See?” Sora looked up at Ven, then at Aqua, as if checking that she thought so too. 

Ven chuckled. “I think he’s sulking right now. Probably didn’t like that you said he had been crying. Let’s go watch Kairi and Riku okay? If Bunny wants to join us, he can when he’s done pouting.” 

The Flood twitched violently again. 

Aqua watched the exchange with mounting confusion. Both of them referred to the monster as a ‘him,’ as if it—

“Wow!” 

“That was amazing!” 

Aqua’s attention immediately went to the field, finding that Riku’s practice sword had been knocked from his grip. 

“What—” Aqua exclaimed, shaking her head. She let herself get distracted again. 

“What—” Riku looked a bit dazed, glancing down at his hand as if he couldn’t believe that his blade was gone. 

“I’m sorry!” Kairi looked just as shocked as Riku did. 

Riku looked up at her, still a little dazed, but his face soon split into a wide grin. “Don’t be sorry! Show that move to me!”

“Me too!” 

As the kids talked among themselves, Aqua approached Terra. “Um, what actually—”

“Kairi disarmed Riku.” Terra gave her a grin, his blue eyes brighter than they had been in a while. “It was really amazing. You should be proud!”

“I am, I just—” Aqua cut herself off. She didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t been watching. That she had been distracted keeping an eye on the creature that no one else seemed concerned about. Even now she found herself glancing back. 

The Flood was no longer on the bench. She gasped, summoning her keyblade and glancing around. 

“It’s okay. He’s right over there with Sora.” 

Despite the soothing tone of Terra’s voice, her grip on Stormfall tightened. Was it so obvious? The Unversed hadn’t really harmed anyone (yet) and she was acting like it was Xehanort himself that was going to attack at any moment. Her heart was racing, her chest felt tight, and it hurt to swallow. 

And she still hadn’t loosened her grip on her blade. 

“Aqua.”

She flinched when she felt Terra’s hand on her shoulder, then it slid slowly down her arm to where her hand clenched her blade. The warmth of his hand contrasted starkly with her own. Somehow, the touch convinced her to relinquish her grip on the blade. With a flash, it dematerialized, but Terra let her grasp his hand instead to replace it. 

“Aqua. Are you okay?”

There was another warm presence by her side, Ven having come up beside her as well. 

Stiffly, she nodded. “I’ll be alright, Ven. How are the kids doing?”

Ven’s smile was as easy-going as ever, and he gestured to the center of the grassy field. It looked like Kairi and Riku were trying to recreate their sparring match so they could learn the move Kairi had used to disarm Riku. “They’re pretty good on their own, you know? Riku’s a natural at this stuff, while Sora and Kairi are catching on quickly. They might be better than us before the end of the summer!” 

Somehow that statement let Aqua breathe a little easier. Right, summer. The kids were only going to be here for a summer to start their keyblade training before heading home again. Sora and Riku would return to their parents on Destiny Islands, and Kairi would go home to her Grandmother in Radiant Garden. 

Everything would be okay for the summer. 

She took a deep breath, and then another. Everything was okay. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow creep up, heading right for Ven. She felt her heartbeat quicken again, and she clenched Terra’s hand tighter.

But when the shadow emerged, it was only the stupid Flood. It pawed at Ven’s leg for a moment before climbing up to settle on his shoulder. 

Ven let out a sigh. “You finally decide that we’re not enemies or what?” 

The Unversed shuddered in response, its ears twitching. 

“Or you’re just lazy and don’t want to walk.” Ven let out another resigned sigh and headed back to where the kids were still working out that move. 

“Maybe they were never that dangerous, and Xehanort just got them to act that way.”

Aqua turned to look at her friend, wondering what he was talking about. 

“The Unversed. This one has just been, well, irritated maybe, But not dangerous.” Terra put the hand that wasn’t holding her own onto his hip. “I’m sure that we’ve all felt or done something irritable while we were here and it hasn’t reacted much. Maybe the Unversed weren’t naturally dangerous, but something forced them to be dangerous.” 

Aqua frowned, thinking about it. She understood Terra’s reasoning. After all, it was Xehanort manipulating Terra that nearly led them down the road to disaster before they got lucky and managed to win against the old Master.

“We don’t know what happened to Xehanort,” Aqua pointed out, turning her gaze towards the field where Ven was helping the kids practice. The Unversed remained on his shoulder. “We defeated him, but his heart is still—”

“I know,” Terra agreed. “But I can only act based on what I know and what I see. What I see is a scared creature that seems to find some sort of comfort in getting petted by three kids who love him to death. Ven seems to care for him as well. He hasn’t harmed anyone or anything and seems to spend most of his time sleeping. He may be a creature of darkness, but he's not evil. He just is.” 

Aqua let out another sigh, then glanced up at Terra. “When did you get to be so smart?”

“I dunno. Probably around the time I nearly became a vessel for some old creepy guy.” Terra offered her a grin. “Had to wisen up a bit after that.” 

Aqua couldn’t help the chuckle that burst forth. “I see.” She squeezed his hand once, before releasing it. “I’ll try to keep that in mind then. It’s just…” She trailed off, not sure how to explain it. 

“We’re all going through a lot. No one expects you to be exactly as you were before all this, and a little caution is good. Ven and I are just worried about you. You don’t have to protect all of us from the darkness okay? Especially when there's no immediate danger.” 

“I know.” 

It was easy to say, but not so easy to put into practice. However, for her own health, she would try. 

\-----

Of course, change does not come overnight.

She often found herself wide awake in the middle of the night, not able to get back to sleep until she roamed the halls to check on everyone. So when the urge hit her at 2 am, she didn’t resist slipping her shoes on and wrapping a robe around her shoulders, stretching for a bit before walking towards the door. 

She had to pass by Terra to get to Ven, and she could hear them both snoring through their respective doors. Then she turned down the corridor to the room the kids all shared. 

She couldn’t hear them through the door, which did nothing to ease her racing heart, so she slowly turned the doorknob. The door creaked a bit, and light from the hallway filtered in through the open door, illuminating the three beds they had arranged for their charges. 

The sight of glowing jagged red eyes still caused her heart to jump, a spike of adrenaline running through her arms and legs. She clenched her fist and barely restrained from calling on Stormfall. 

It had been weeks now and she wasn’t used to that sight greeting her in the middle of the night. Aqua took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, clenching the doorknob tightly. She glared at the creature, watching as its eyes winked in and out of existence as the Unversed blinked. 

Its indigo body was wedged tightly between Sora and Riku, the former having climbed into the latter’s bed at some point. Despite the adrenaline running through her and her irritation at the monster, Aqua had to let out a quiet chuckle. If it wasn’t Sora climbing into Riku’s bed, it was Riku climbing into Sora’s. It seemed neither could sleep very well without the other close by. 

In the third bed, Kairi had managed to kick her covers off and was now curled up tightly, trying to get warm. 

Aqua let out a sigh and walked over, laying the blanket over the shivering girl and patting her head lightly, much like she vaguely remembered Master Eraqus doing to her when Aqua had been much younger. 

Then she turned her attention to the boys. If they were gonna sleep like this, she supposed Sora would be more comfortable under the covers. Gently, she picked the child up, resting him against her shoulder so she could pull the covers back with her other hand. Sora wiggled in her arms, sleepily protesting at the movement. 

As she shifted the covers back, Riku sleepily blinked teal eyes open, frowning up at Aqua in question. She offered him a small grin as she placed Sora back in the bed. Riku quickly reached for his friend, clutching the other’s hand. Instantly, Sora quieted down, slipping back into a deep sleep. As Aqua tucked them both back in, Riku’s eyes closed as well, falling back asleep just as easily as he had woken from it. 

Aqua chuckled quietly, patting their heads. She never really thought of herself as motherly, but there was something comforting about taking care of these children for the summer. A reminder that they had won. Life was able to move on past what Xehanort attempted. 

Then she caught sight of the Flood and suddenly remembered that not everything had moved on, apparently. 

The Unversed had moved out of the way while Aqua was tucking the two in and now scratched at the bedding for a moment before resuming his position between Sora and Riku. He stared up at her, jagged red eyes completely expressionless, void even of the somewhat grumpy look she had gotten used to. 

“I still don’t trust you,” Aqua said, the words out of her mouth before she thought much about it. 

It felt good to say the words aloud. Freeing, in a sense. 

Feeling like she could now sleep again, she turned back towards the door. 

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” 

Aqua froze as if she had been hit square in the back with a blizzaga spell. 

It was that voice. The voice. 

_“Out of the two of us, I’m the only one who will be walking out of here alive.” _  
  
The boy in the mask. 

Vanitas. 

Aqua would never forget that voice. 

She managed to find it in her to turn around, finding no one but the sleeping boys and the Unversed, which she gazed at with a new fear. 

Could—

No, it was impossible. 

Vanitas was gone. She had defeated him herself. Watched him fade into nonexistence. He never showed up to the Keyblade Graveyard, much to Xehanort’s obvious dismay. Aqua couldn’t help but feel that Vanitas’s absence was the only reason they had managed to win, to knock Xehanort out of his temporary possession of Terra. It had something to do with Xehanort’s search for the keyblade. Ven had said that. The χ-blade. 

Xehanort’s plot had ended in failure. And Vanitas was gone. 

She was hearing things. That was the only explanation. The paranoia really had gotten to her and she was hearing things. 

Taking a deep breath, she took a step towards the door. Then another. It became easier to walk away from the Unversed the further she got, and soon she was closing the door behind her and taking deep breaths. 

Vanitas wasn’t here. He couldn’t be. 

She had to calm down. 

She thought back to Sora climbing into Riku’s bed. She wasn’t sure if it was for comfort after a nightmare, or just to be close to someone he trusted. It was probably nice to be close to someone after a nightmare. Someone who was nice and warm and comforting. 

She stopped in her tracks again, this time feeling a wave of heat flood her face. 

She had been thinking of Terra when she thought of someone comforting. Someone to cuddle with after a nightmare. Her whole body felt a sudden urge to climb into Terra’s bed in order to seek out that comfort. 

Her face burned with embarrassment. 

No! No, no she could not do that. _Definitely_ not. _No! _

Shaking her head, she walked briskly back to her room and firmly shut the door. No more nightly patrols. She had to get her rest. No more paranoid thoughts about Unversed, or Xehanort, or Terra and his warm hands. 

Sleep. 

She _needed_ sleep. 

—-

“Are you okay Aqua? You look as sleepy as Sora.” 

Ven’s voice cut through the fog that had settled in Aqua’s head. She had entered the kitchen looking for…looking for something. Was it in the fridge? Or—

Tea! She had been looking for tea!

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just…didn’t get much sleep.” Aqua shook her head, trying to clear the scattered thoughts and turned towards the kettle instead. “What’s wrong with Sora?”

“Um, well.” Ven jerked his head to the table. 

Aqua turned, finding Sora leaning over his cereal, eyes closed and tipping dangerously close to getting a faceful of milk. Riku poked Sora’s cheeks to try and wake him up, but Sora just shifted so he was leaning on Riku’s shoulder instead. Riku froze up for a second before wrapping his arm around Sora’s shoulders. Kairi giggled and moved Sora’s bowl away. 

Blinking against her own tiredness, Aqua walked over to the table, taking a seat. “What’s wrong Sora? Why are you so tired?”

“Mm…” Sora wrinkled his nose and wiped under his eyes. “The shadow man keeps me up at night. He’s scary.” 

“Shadow man?” Aqua frowned. “What shadow?”

“Sora says there’s a monster in our room,” Kairi explained.

“It’s just a nightmare, Sor.” Riku squeezed his friend’s shoulders. “I told you. I’ll fight all the nightmares so they don’t bother you anymore!”

A monster? Aqua glanced over at the Unversed, who was fast asleep next to Kairi. 

“Yeah... “ Sora agreed with a nod of his head. “It’s scary though. It keeps staring at you, Riku.” 

“But you said that Bunny keeps it away right?” Kairi gently stroked a hand down the creature’s back. The Flood shuddered a bit but stayed asleep. 

“Yeah!” Sora gave a gap-toothed grin. “Bunny is the best.” 

Aqua’s frown deepened, but she decided not to say anything. If Sora found comfort from the nightmares in their strange new pet, then she guessed it could stay for a bit longer. Despite the odd voice she heard last night that was definitely caused by sleep deprivation. 

—-

It got worse. 

She kept hearing the voice. And she was pretty sure she was the only one who did hear it. 

Standing on the sidelines mentoring her charge, she thought she could hear him spitting out unsolicited advice:

_“Really? A dodge there? The girl should probably focus on actually defending herself first.” _

Or when she tried to stress bake:

_“Those chocolate monstrosities again? Can’t you bake something that won’t give Sora a sugar rush?”_

Or even when she tried to meditate with the kids. 

_“So. Freaking. Boring.” _

Sora’s giggle after that last disembodied statement almost made her think that maybe she wasn’t hearing things. That the Flood was actually speaking. 

But then Sora giggled again and Aqua realized he was laughing at himself in the way kids do when forced to be quiet for too long. Soon enough Kairi and Riku started giggling as well, Sora’s laughter infectious. 

She let out a sigh and opened her eyes. Sure enough, the Flood was scratching at himself and the floor but was otherwise silent. She had the kids to herself today as Ven and Terra went to discuss a problem with Master Yen Sid. She supposed that they could have a day off. “Alright you three, I think that’s enough meditating for the day.” 

The kids cheered and stood up, bowing quickly before running off to play. 

“You give up too easily. And you consider yourself a _Master?”_

“I can’t force them to do something when their heart’s set on something else. Sometimes I just have to let them follow their heart,” Aqua responded without thinking. Then she froze, realizing that she had spoken to the creature.

Maybe she needed the day off too. 

She followed the kids into the sunshine outside. They had quickly split up to play a game, and Riku was counting with his eyes shut. Kairi ran around the garden for a moment before ducking behind a tree. Sora dove under one of the benches, his giggles fading as he tried to keep quiet.

Aqua grinned and took a seat on the same bench, arranging her scarves so they covered the boy a little bit more. Beside her, the Unversed hopped up onto the bench as well, turning a few times in his spot before curling up. Red eyes blinked closed as the creature breathed deeply, falling asleep. 

“Thirty! Ready or not, here I come!!” Riku blinked his eyes several times as he opened them, the sunlight a bit bright. 

Aqua spotted Kairi looking around the tree she was hiding behind, ducking out of sight just as Riku turned around. It appears she wasn’t quick enough though as Riku darted straight for the tree. 

“I see you, Kairi!” 

Kairi giggled but obligingly came out of her hiding place. “Let’s go find Sora now!”

“Right!” 

They ran off in another direction, never straying far from sight. Underneath her seat, Sora let out a giggle. 

“Hush or they’ll find you,” Aqua warned him. Sora giggled a moment longer before stifling his laughter with a hand over his mouth. 

“I heard him!” Riku exclaimed. “He’s back here!” 

Riku and Kairi both ran back towards the bench, still looking around. Aqua had to cover her mouth to hide her grin, lest she gave Sora’s hiding spot away. 

But Sora was good at doing that on his own when he let out another giggle, and Riku dove under the bench. There was a loud shriek that faded into laughter. “R-Riku!”

“I found you!!” Riku cheered. 

Laughing, they both rolled out from under the bench, Riku keeping a tight hold on Sora’s hand. 

“My turn to be seeker!” Sora cheered, then closed his eyes. “One, two, three…” 

Kairi and Riku darted off while Sora continued to count. This time Kairi hid in one of the nearby bushes. The thick branches and leaves obscured her from view. Riku stepped carefully through a small garden of white flowers that Aqua and Ven had planted in memory of Master Eraqus. Riku was careful not to disturb the flowers themselves and laid down amongst them, effectively disappearing into the foliage. 

“....twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!” Sora opened his eyes. “Ready or not, here I come!” He immediately darted to the spot Kairi had hidden before, a frown appearing when he didn’t spot anyone. He looked over to where he had hidden the last game. “Where’d they go?”

Aqua grinned. “I’m not gonna tell you! Remember what I told you before?”

Sora tilted his head. “Always look before I leap?”

Aqua chuckled. “The other thing. May your heart—”

“May my heart be my guiding key.” 

Aqua nodded. “No matter if it’s fighting with your future keyblade, or finding your friends, you have to follow your heart.” 

Sora placed one hand over his chest, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he immediately ran towards the flower garden “Riku! I know you’re here!” 

Riku popped out of his hiding spot. “No fair! Master Aqua told you where I was!”

Aqua opened her mouth to deny it, but Sora beat her to it. 

“No, she didn't. She just said to follow my heart and it led me to you!” 

Aqua couldn’t quite see Sora’s face, but she could imagine the grin on it. Riku’s face had reddened in a blush until he looked away. “Well, okay, but new rule: no using it during official hide and seek. I’m okay if you use it when I’m really lost. Deal?”

Sora swung his hands behind his head, a habit he picked up from his teacher. “Deal! Or maybe when you’re just sad? Or scared? Or lonely?”

Riku glanced back, the blush still high on his cheeks, but he was now smiling slightly. “Okay. But only if I can use it to find you too.”

“It’s a promise!” 

Aqua let out a quiet sigh. She had been so worried when Ven brought the little brunet to the land of departure, saying that he had heard the boy crying in his heart, wondering where his best friend disappeared to and why he couldn’t follow. 

_“I couldn’t leave him there Aqua. He has the light and the potential.” _

And she would have been a fool to deny it. Sora did have a lot of potential. What Riku had in natural talent, Sora had in an enthusiasm to learn. They made a great team, and the addition of Kairi completed the dynamic. Aqua would never think of separating them now. 

“How’s it going?” 

Aqua looked up, startled at Terra’s voice. “Hey! How was Radiant Garden?” Aqua waved at Ven who had gone over to Sora and Riku to help them look for Kairi. Aqua quickly glanced over to where she knew the girl was hiding, just barely spotting bright red hair in the bushes. 

“It was fine. Ven had to stop and chat with some new friends he made there. And Master Ansem is doing okay.” Terra took a seat beside her on the bench. “How were things here? I thought you were gonna try to teach the kids meditating.”

Aqua let out a quiet groan. “Yeah, that lasted about five minutes. I thought they could handle it, but may—” She cut off when she heard Terra chuckling. “What’s so funny?”

Terra glanced over before bursting into laughter again. “It’s just… you weren’t that much older than them, remember? Master was trying to get us both to meditate and you kept twitching. Saying that it was silly to meditate when we could go outside.”

Aqua frowned, shoving his arm slightly and sending him into another round of chuckles. She didn’t quite remember that, but Terra never lied to her so she supposed it must have been true. She did remember Master Eraqus encouraging her to learn acrobatics and dance when she was around Kairi’s age, so maybe that was in an effort to get her to calm down and focus. It also helped her develop her keyblade style later on. 

She supposed the meditation could come later. 

“We’ll try dancing tomorrow then. I’m sure they would enjoy that.” 

Terra nodded in agreement. 

“Master Terra! Master Aqua!” 

They both turned to the kids, Kairi included, running up to them, Ven walking behind them at a more subdued pace. 

“What’s wrong?” Terra asked, and Aqua realized that the kids had a panicked look in their eyes. 

“We can’t find Bunny!” Sora said, eyes tearing up. 

“He was here with Aqua, but now he’s gone,” Riku pointed out. 

Aqua blinked glancing down and realizing that the Flood that curled up beside her to sleep had moved at some point while she was keeping an eye on the kids. 

Terra also looked a bit panicked for a moment, shifting in his seat a bit, though Aqua was fairly sure they would know if Terra had sat on the creature. 

She tried to keep the spike of uncertainty at bay, not sure if the Flood suddenly disappearing was a good thing or a bad thing, when suddenly she spotted a dark blob in the tree above the bench. 

It seemed that Bunny needed a break from the kids and had decided to nap in the tree instead. Now that Aqua knew what she was looking at, she thought she could even hear a couple of faint snores from the monster. It was almost cute. 

_Almost. _

“There he is!” 

Riku had noticed the direction of her gaze first, and soon after, Sora and Kairi let out similar cheers. 

“There!”

“What’s he doing?” 

Aqua grinned down at them. “It’s sleeping.”

“Bunny!” Sora called out. “Bunny, it’s time to wake up!” 

“Sora,” Riku laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Bunny needs sleep. He stays up at night.” 

“But I want him to play with us,” Sora pouted. “And Master Ven said a storm is coming. I don’t want Bunny to get wet. He hates that.” 

Aqua glanced over at Ven. “A storm?” 

Ven gestured towards the distant mountains where grey clouds gathered. “It’s not as fun to play in a thunderstorm, right guys?” 

The kids all agreed to Ven’s statement, and then the blond glanced up at the branch where the Flood was snoring away. “You might want to wake up if you don’t want to get wet.” 

Aqua frowned at Ven’s tone. He almost sounded a little irritated, more like he was talking to a rather annoying friend than the kids’ “pet.” 

Surprisingly, the Unversed woke up, jagged red eyes blinking in and out of existence as if it had eyelids. It seemed to forget where it was though, as it moved to roll over and fell out of the branch. 

“Bunny!” all three kids cried out. 

Aqua could see the creature twitching as it fell, trying to teleport or something. However, before it could do anything, Terra reached out and snatched it from the air. 

“That was close,” Terra said as he adjusted his grip. The creature looked tiny in his arms. His slight grin turned to a frown for a moment before he handed the creature off to Ven. The Unversed began to twitch and squirm before settling into a sulk, its usual reaction whenever it was anywhere near the blond. 

Ven ignored the creature’s struggles. “You were gonna fall anyway. Why were you asleep in a tree? You’re Bunny, not a squirrel.” 

The Flood did not take kindly to that observation and began to squirm even more until Ven passed the creature over to Sora. 

Sora hugged the creature tightly, and Aqua was surprised when the action calmed the Flood rather than agitate it further. After several deep breaths, it let Sora baby it, the brunet cradling the creature close before following Ven up to the castle, Kairi and Riku close by as always. 

Aqua hung back, a little concerned by Terra’s frown. “What’s wrong?”

Terra glanced down at his hand. “That Flood… The Unversed don’t have hearts, right?” 

Aqua tilted her head in thought. “Well… I don’t think so.” She had read that there were certain dark creatures that were the dark manifestations in people’s hearts. Those creatures did leave hearts behind when destroyed. 

But Unversed?

They were just… emotions. No one knew where they came from or where they had gone. An emotion couldn’t have a heart. 

“Then…their Bunny must be a bit special,” Terra looked down at his hands again. “I felt a heartbeat. When he fell, he was scared and his heart was racing.” He looked at her. “I guess at that moment, I forgot he was a monster. And it…makes me wonder if they all had hearts.” 

“Terra.” Aqua frowned, reaching out to take his hand. She suddenly remembered a time when his hand didn’t dwarf her own; a time they were both younger than Ventus and could barely lift a keyblade… 

She had forgotten what it was like to be that innocent. 

With a sigh, she continued. “I don’t know if they had hearts or not. But we had to destroy them. They were hurting people and had to be stopped.”

“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand gently. “You’re right.” 

He didn’t sound too sure but pulled away before she could ask further. 

She watched his retreating back as he caught up with Ven and their apprentices. Letting out a quiet sigh, she reached into her pocket, feeling the cool glass and metal of her Wayfinder. All her friends, connected. A connection that stayed strong even in the most trying of circumstances. 

So why did it still feel like the threads were loosened somehow?

She gave one final squeeze to the charm and ran to catch up to her friends.

Bonds could be reforged and strengthened. It didn’t mean their bond was broken. 

She would never let that happen. 

The storm Ven warned them of came swiftly as soon as it was past the mountains, bringing heavy rain and thunder that lasted through dinner and past the children’s bedtime. 

Luckily none of the apprentices seemed to fear the loud noises that shook the castle. Sora and Riku fell asleep quickly as if the late-night rain was a lullaby. Kairi was slower to soothe, but she found comfort in having Bunny on the foot of her bed. 

Aqua let out a sigh as she shut the light off, the nightlight casting a dim glow about the room. She looked for anything that might be casting the “shadow” of Sora’s nightmares, but nothing seemed amiss. She closed the door quietly, feeling Terra and Ven at her back. Turning, she broke out into a wide grin. 

“So, who’s up for a round of Command Board before our own bedtime?” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part contains some of my favorite scenes that I have ever written for a fic ^_^ 
> 
> Please Enjoy!

She woke up at two in the morning again, jerking out of some already forgotten dream. She could only remember fleeting feelings from it. Lost in the darkness, years passing. 

A dream though. Just a dream. 

The knowledge didn’t stop her heart from racing or her muscles from aching with the need to move. To check. 

To make sure the darkness hadn’t snuck upon them again. 

She let out a groan, knowing that it hurt more to ignore the urge to check on everyone, and swung her feet out of bed, slipping on her robe and shoes. The hallway was quiet, as usual for her late-night strolls. But still, something seemed off. 

It wasn’t until she passed by Terra’s room that she realized why. 

She couldn’t hear the usual soft snores she usually did at this time of night. 

Aqua hesitated, hovering at the door. It would be wrong to go in right? Just to check? 

What if something had happened? What if—?

No. She shook her head firmly. That was… a blatant disregard for trust. She trusted Terra. She promised him after the battle, after Xehanort, that she would work on trusting that he knew what he was doing. 

Whether that was training Riku or being mysteriously quiet at night. She had to trust him. 

Her resolve lasted until the first yell emanated from behind the door. 

She summoned her keyblade first, then knocked. “Terra? Are you okay?” 

Another muffled shout answered her, and she quickly opened the door, expecting a monster, maybe even more Unversed. 

Instead, she found Terra tied up in his own sheets, trying to fight some invisible threat in his sleep. 

“Terra!” Aqua ran over to the bed, letting her keyblade dissipate. “Terra, wake up!” 

“Aqua!” Terra cried out, still asleep. “Aqua! Look—” He swung his hand at the bed, his legs trapped in the sheets. “Ven!” 

She tried to lay a hand on Terra’s arm to wake him. 

_ *Thwack!*  _

Letting out a startled shout, Aqua held her hand to her cheek. It throbbed in pain when— 

“Aqua?”

This time her name was said in a groggy tone, and when she looked up it was to Terra groggily blinking at her, confusion evident on his face. 

“Are you okay? Why are you—” Suddenly his eyes widened, “Did I— I hurt you, didn’t I?” His gaze shifted to his hands. 

Hurriedly, Aqua pulled her hand down. “No! It was nothing! I just— You were thrashing in your sleep and I wasn’t paying attention.” 

“But I—” Terra’s hands clenched, and his eyes squeezed shut. “I—”

“I’m okay.” Aqua laid a hand gently on one of his fists. “I—I’ll just go make some tea, okay?” 

She left the room, still a little shocked over what happened. Of course, she didn’t blame Terra for what would become a bruise on her cheek. It was a complete accident. She just hadn’t been expecting it. She didn’t think Terra was one to lash out in his dreams. 

But then again, she had also once been someone who slept through the night.

She yawned as she entered the kitchen, letting the air out slowly. The motion jostled her bruised face, and she went to the freezer first for an ice pack. Then she grabbed the kettle, filling it up with water and heating it up, staring at the pot, lost in thought. 

“ _ Really _ ? You just…run away?”

Aqua gasped in shock, turning around sharply to find Bunny sitting on the kitchen table, absently scratching at the wood. It didn’t look like he had just spoken. 

Was it all in her head?

_ I’m not running away _ , she told herself, pulling out two mugs.  _ I’m making tea. _

She heard the Flood scratch at the wood of the table, evidently getting more agitated. Was it because she hadn’t answered him? Or was it just a natural part of his character?

….When did she start referring to Bunny as a “him?” 

For now, she ignored him — it—  _ Bunny _ , going back to picking out the tea she wanted. 

“You know, for someone who proclaims to love the light so much, you seem pretty eager to keep taking it away from your friends.” 

Aqua paused in where she was pulling the tea out of the cupboard and turned back around, staring at the creature that was now staring back with those strange jagged eyes. 

“Darkness…it thrives on loneliness. Why do you think it was so important for Xehanort to separate the three of you?” 

The creature’s mouth definitely didn’t move. Aqua couldn’t even see if he  _ had _ a mouth. But it was definitely Vanitas’s voice reverberating around in her head. 

The tone was different though. 

Far from the harsh and arrogant tone he had given her in Neverland and Radiant Garden before that, this was…well, not quite  _ kind  _ but softer. More respectful. 

It had to just be in her head. Vanitas would never be respectful towards her. 

She continued to think about the words though, as she waited for the water to boil. Darkness… thrived on loneliness? She supposed that made sense. The bonds of the friendship she had with Terra and Ven. Nothing was brighter than that. 

Aqua thought of the loosened threads of her Wayfinder. 

She knew their relationship had been… drifting for a while. Not breaking, but fraying. They never talked about that final battle, or about the research notes they had discovered, or about Xehanort himself. They all pretended like—

No. 

_ She _ pretended like it never happened. Like they had all just moved on. But they hadn’t. None of them had. Fear of the darkness returning kept her up at night, roaming the halls and looking for threats. Ven took long trips, saying he was searching for something. She had thought when he returned with Sora, his search would be over, but...

And then there was Terra. 

She knew Terra had been dealing with nightmares. But she didn’t want to confront him about them, because confronting them meant facing what happened. 

It meant facing the darkness inside Terra. 

And she had just…left him again to face it alone. 

She was racing out of the kitchen before she even realized she had come to a decision. Her footsteps pounded on the hallway floors as she raced to Terra’s room. When she got there, she saw Terra seated on the bed, hunched over and staring at his hands. When she entered the room, he looked up with a smile that she now realized didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Hey, where’s the tea—oof!” 

She practically launched into his bed, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m sorry.” 

“Huh?” Terra wrapped his own arms around her lightly, as if confused. “Haven’t we got this backward? I should be apologizing to you.” He pulled back just enough to touch her cheek. “Your face—”

“That’s nothing.” Aqua shook her head, grabbing Terra’s hand in both of her own. “I mean. I’m sorry for leaving you alone after waking you from your nightmare. I didn’t mean to run away. I just— I was scared. Of what your nightmare…” She trailed off with a shrug. 

She felt Terra squeeze her hand. “It’s okay. They are kinda scary. But…they’re just nightmares. I get to wake up knowing you and Ven are just fine.” 

“I know,” Aqua nodded, “I just— You asked for me to trust you to face the darkness on your own. And I’m trying, but I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone when you do that. Even if you’re doing it in your own way, I’m right there with you to support you. In any way I can.” 

She hoped that came out the way she meant it. Terra could face the darkness, he didn’t need a babysitter, he needed a friend. And she supposed she hadn’t been a very good friend lately. 

“Thank you, Aqua.” 

She looked up at him, at his blue eyes staring into her own, and she felt a smile appear on her face. It was the first time she felt like smiling at night time in a long while. 

“Aqua? Terra?”

They both looked at the door, finding Ven’s silhouette illuminated by the hall lights. He was yawning, holding onto two mugs with one hand, and a third with the other. 

“Ven?” Aqua stood up and crossed to the door, taking a mug from him. It was warm and smelled of her favorite tea. “Did we wake you?”

“Not exactly.” Ven walked into the room and handed another mug to Terra. 

Aqua frowned, taking a seat on the bed, glancing over at Ven when he took a seat as well. “Then what did—”

There was a wet, cold plop in her lap. Looking down, she saw the ice pack she must have left in the kitchen. “Huh?” Confused, she pressed it to her bruised cheek. 

“He just didn’t want to die in a stupid kitchen fire,” Ven huffed, almost laughing. 

“Who didn’t?” Aqua asked, but then she saw the Flood on Ven’s shoulder. He almost melted into the shadows. “The Flood?” 

“He came into my room and bounced on my head a bit. Then insisted we go to the kitchen,” Ven shrugged. “You don’t start making your favorite tea and then leave it for no reason, so… what’s up?” He offered both of them a grin that was so like how it was before the battle, that Aqua had to match it with one of her own, knowing that Terra was doing the same. 

“Nightmares,” Terra eventually admitted. “Bad ones. Where—where you guys didn’t force Xehanort out.” 

Aqua frowned, remembering parts of her own dreams. Walking endlessly in a dark world. “Are you alone? In your dreams?” 

Terra glanced up at her for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. Kinda. I mean, Xehanort’s there too, but obviously, he’s not exactly…helping.” 

Aqua nodded, taking a sip of tea. 

“I don’t…really have dreams,” Ven admitted, “Or nightmares. Just…flashes of memories I think. Something happened. I was training under Xehanort, but then he did something.” 

“And then Vanitas—” Aqua started, but cut herself off. They had all read the report. She had been shocked that Vanitas had come from Ven. They were two totally different people. But…if Vanitas was the darkness that had been ripped out of Ven—?

Except, if that was true, wouldn’t her destruction of Vanitas have affected Ven in some way? 

There were just too many things they didn’t know. 

She felt a hand squeeze the one holding the cold pack, the warmth contrasting sharply with the ice. Terra smiled at her when she finally glanced over, squeezing her hand one more time before pulling away. 

“I guess we’ve all dealt with it in different ways.” Ven continued, taking a long sip of tea. “But… I don’t think I want to deal with it alone anymore. It might be better for our apprentices as well, to see that they can rely on their friends to work through things.”

“To trust them, even with their darkness,” Terra added, meeting Aqua’s eyes with his own. 

Aqua swallowed her mouthful of tea before nodding. “Right.” 

They didn’t talk much after that, but Aqua found the presence of Terra and Ven just as soothing as the tea. At some point, the Flood snuck out the door, presumably to rejoin the kids in their room. 

She lost herself in thought, and after noticing that neither Terra nor Ven had spoken in a while, she glanced over to find both of them fast asleep again, leaning into each other and their mugs nearly falling out of their grasp. She chuckled softly, grabbing the mugs before they could fall completely and placing them on the nightstand. She should go back to her own room but—

She let out a sigh, sliding off of the bed and quietly padding towards the door. She just had to do one last thing. 

The kids were all asleep when she entered the room. Kairi had kicked off her blankets again while Riku had climbed into Sora’s bed this time. Sora had his face buried in Riku’s shirt while the taller boy clutched at Sora’s pajamas and one spike of brown hair. 

On Riku’s vacant bed, the Unversed quietly kept watch, staring at Aqua for a brief moment as she entered, but then laying his head back down on the rumpled blankets, eyes wide open. Aqua glanced at him for a moment before crossing the room to tuck Kairi under her blankets again and then making sure that the boys were settled. Before she left, she glanced back at the Unversed. 

“Thank you.” 

The words were quiet, and she didn’t really mean to say them out loud. But now they were out in the open and she couldn’t take them back, even if she wanted to. 

“I’m not saying you’re welcome. I just didn’t want to die in a fire.” 

Despite herself, Aqua chuckled. She supposed that was something Vanitas would say. Or maybe Ven with a bad attitude. “Whatever you say.” 

It suddenly didn’t matter so much whether or not Bunny was actually speaking. Maybe it was just in her head. But at least she now felt that the Flood wasn’t her enemy. Maybe not quite her friend either, but something that she could probably tolerate. 

Still, the words got her thinking. She had questions. And if the Flood did talk, she wanted answers. 

She let out a yawn and stretched, her exhaustion from the past few…months catching up with her. 

She walked through the hallway back to her room, passing the open doorway to Terra’s room. Terra and Ven were fast asleep, half leaning back against the pillow and snoring away. 

She hesitated for a moment. 

Maybe… maybe cuddling with her friends for one night wouldn’t be so bad. 

Quietly she crawled into bed with Terra and Ven. 

Despite the emotional night she just had, Aqua fell asleep as soon as she curled close to her friends.

—

The Unversed stayed rather quiet the next day, rarely making any sort of comment, snarky yet strangely helpful or otherwise. Instead, he seemed to nap for longer periods of time while the kids sparred or played. 

Did he nap throughout the day because he was staying awake at night? Aqua supposed that made sense, but it did seem like the creature’s sleeping habits were getting worse. 

She resolved to start questioning him that night. If only for her own peace of mind. If the creature was able to say something that she wouldn’t have been able to think of, then it must be actually him speaking. If not…then maybe she should go seek help from Master Yen Sid and ask Terra or Ven to oversee Kairi’s training for the rest of the summer. 

“Is Bunny sick?” 

Aqua looked down at Sora who was cradling the sleeping Unversed in his arms. “Hmm? Why do you say that Sora?”

Sora hummed in thought, looking down at the Flood. “Because… Bunny has been sleeping a lot during the day. Even after dealing with the shadow guy at night he won’t go to sleep.”

‘Shadow guy?” Aqua tilted her head. This was the second time Sora mentioned a shadow guy. But it was just a dream, right? “How does Bunny help with the shadow guy?”

Sora shrugged. “He just kinda… he gets all big. And he glares at the shadow guy till the shadows go away.”

Aqua frowned, not liking this dream. “Why does the shadow guy come into your room?”

Sora shook his head, tears starting to leak out of his eyes. “I don’t know! Kairi and Riku never wake up when the shadow guy comes in but he keeps walking towards Riku and I have to save him. And Bunny helps.” Sora leaned down, wiping his tears onto Bunny’s fur. “But now Bunny sleeps during the day. Is it getting harder for him to stand up to the Shadow guy?” 

His eyes bored into Aqua’s, though she was just as lost and bewildered as he was. She tried to reassure him though. “I—I don’t know why Bunny is sleeping, Sora. Maybe he just needs rest because of your dreams—”

“I’m not dreaming!” Sora stamped his foot in anger. “There really is a shadow guy who comes into the room at night and tries to scare Riku.” 

“Okay!” Aqua held her hands up in a surrendering gesture. “Okay, I believe you.” She smiled again. “Maybe Bunny isn’t feeling well and needs to sleep. Do you want to leave him with me so you can go play with Riku and Kairi?” 

Sora thought about it for a moment before holding Bunny out for Aqua to take. After just a second of hesitation, Aqua did so, cradling the creature a little awkwardly as Sora grinned and ran back to his friends. 

The Flood barely shifted in her arms, evidently not even realizing that he had been moved. 

As Aqua watched Sora, Riku, and Kairi play fight with their practice swords, she gradually became aware of a slow but steady thump coming from the Unversed in her arms. 

_ Terra was right, _ she thought, staring down at the creature.  _ He does have a heartbeat _ . 

Her suspicions of what, or rather, who, she held in her arms felt almost confirmed. 

_ Tonight _ , she decided. Tonight she would know for sure. 

It ended up being much easier to sneak the Unversed away from his child handlers than she had thought. All she had to do was wait for the three of them to go to sleep, as well as wait for Terra and Ven to retire for the evening (she didn’t want them to think she really was just hearing things) before sneaking back into the children's bedroom and nabbing the creature. 

He was much squirmier awake than asleep, but she managed to keep a hold of him until they got out into the hallway. 

“Calm down!” Aqua kept her voice to a harsh whisper. “I just wanna talk!” 

The Unversed squirmed until he could turn his jagged red eyes towards her. “Just talk? Yeah right.” 

“It’s true!” Aqua argued already moving towards the kitchen. “Just a quick chat and then you can go wherever you want.”

The creature stared at her for a moment longer, evidently weighing her words. Finally, the fight seemed to leave his body. “Fine, but make it quick.” 

Aqua sighed, but picked up the pace as she headed towards the kitchen. She placed the Unversed down on the table, muttering a quick bind spell as she did so. 

“Hey! This wasn’t part of the deal!!” The Unversed shouted as he resumed struggling, but the magic held firm. 

“It’s just for my own peace of mind so you don’t go running off,” Aqua huffed, already turning on the stove to boil some water. She was not having this conversation without tea. “And don’t try to duck underground. I’ve figured out how to modify the spell to prevent that.”

She turned around, finding that the Flood was, indeed, attempting to sneak under the bind spell, but the barrier of magic wouldn’t let him. 

Finally, the Flood stopped struggling and turned his glare on her. “I hate clever people.”

“Only because we can outsmart you,” Aqua countered, almost letting a giggle slip out when the Unversed twitched in irritation and seemed to let out a huff of air. How he could do so without a mouth eluded her. She bit her lip and focused on the tea. 

She must have been exhausted if she was finding anything the creature did amusing. The creature she was near-certain now was Vanitas. 

The water began to boil, and she turned the stove off and poured a mug. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled another mug down and poured another mug. Placing the teabags in, she walked over to the table where the Unversed eyed her suspiciously. She passed one mug over and took a seat. Then, with a wave of her hand, she released the creature from the bind spell. 

The Unversed turned his gaze to the mug and sniffed it suspiciously before dunking his whole face in. Aqua nearly held a hand out to stop the Unversed from scalding himself but the heat didn’t seem to phase him. Instead, he sat back up with a shake of his head. 

“That’s disgusting.” 

There was a startled laugh and Aqua was shocked to realize it came from her. Shaking her head to try and stop the smile from taking over, she passed over the sugar pot. “Here.”

The Unversed ignored the spoon entirely and instead dug into the sugar much like a puppy would dig a hole into the dirt. The sugar flew behind him, and Aqua was surprised when a lot of it actually did end up in his mug. Then the Unversed ran back over and dunked his face back in. 

“Better?” Aqua questioned. 

It must have been, with the way the Unversed was now guzzling it down. 

Aqua raised an eyebrow but took a sip of her own tea. “Who are you?”

“You’re stupid enough that you have to ask?” The Unversed turned his jagged gaze on her. 

Pursing her lips, she set her mug down. “Vanitas.”

“Master Aqua,” The Unversed — Vanitas — answered. 

Despite her now confirmed suspicions, Aqua still felt a shiver of unease run down her spine. Unlike the grumpy but almost teasing tone that the Flood had been using for a while, her name and title were said in the same biting tone that Vanitas had used in Neverland.

But then Vanitas returned to his tea and the tension in the room eased. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter if you know, I guess. Not like you would dare hurt the kiddos’ pet.”

“I can come up with an excuse,” Aqua pointed out. 

The jagged red stare returned, and Aqua swallowed another sip of tea. Vanitas knew. She loved the kids too much to ever make them sad. 

Even if it might be for their own good. 

But still, Vanitas hadn’t done  _ anything  _ to warrant such a reaction _ . _

“Anyway,” Aqua said, swirling her mug. She always felt better with something in her hand, even if it wasn’t her keyblade. “Why are you here? I mean. Why come here?”

“Where else would I go?” The Flood huffed. “Half of me is still here. I know you read Xehanort’s notes.”

Aqua’s hand tightened around the mug. “Ven is his whole person.”

“I know!!” Vanitas’s voice raised to a near shout. “I know and it doesn’t make sense! Why does he get to be his own person while I—I—” He pushed the mug off the table, and it fell to the floor with a crash. 

Aqua flinched, and it took everything in her not to immediately summon her keyblade. She wanted to hear this out. Besides, it didn’t seem like Vanitas’s anger was directed at her. 

It seemed like it was directed at himself. 

“Why was I reduced to this?” 

The words were quiet, and Aqua almost thought she had made them up. But the sadness radiating from the jagged red eyes convinced her he had said them.

They sat in silence for a while before Aqua took a breath. 

“I don’t know, Vanitas.” It felt strange to say his name without it having the bite of anger she used to have. “But I do know one thing. You’re your own person too. You have your own heart.”

The Unversed scoffed and turned away. 

“You do!” Tonight was apparently ripe for surprises. Now she found that she wanted to make Vanitas feel better. 

Was it because he was actually another aspect of Ven? Or was it because, despite everything Vanitas had tried to do, she now saw him as some sort of guardian for the kids? Because she managed to see past his anger to something—

She wasn’t sure what, but she would be lying to herself if she thought that Vanitas was the same as he had been two years ago. 

“You have a heartbeat,” Aqua said, staring down at her tea. “Terra and I felt it. And it’s strong. You can’t have a heartbeat without a heart. So you must be your own person.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Vanitas curled up into a ball. “I had a stupid heartbeat before. It hurt. I don’t want a heart if it hurts like that again.”

“I—uh…” Aqua tried to think of a response to that. How did Ven and Vanitas live apart before? When Ven was training with her and Terra. “I… Xehanort said in his reports that Ven had gone comatose after you were created. How did Ven wake up?”

Vanitas shuddered and curled up tighter. “His heart met Sora’s. And then he became friends with you guys.”

Aqua hummed in acknowledgment of that statement, though it only confused her further. It had seemed that Ven and Sora shared some sort of bond that was closer than Master and Apprentice, but for it to be something like this—

She let out a sigh. She had cornered Vanitas to get answers, but now she found herself more confused than ever. 

Were the answers even worth finding out? 

She opened her mouth to ask another question but then a bell began to ring out through the building. Aqua nearly felt her heart stop, remembering another bell that rang a long time ago. 

Before the adventure that nearly ended everything. 

But then she calmed, realizing it was the traditional midnight bell that tolled. These days, she usually slept through it. 

“What the—?”

Aqua opened her mouth, ready to tell Vanitas about the bell, but found that the Unversed was already off the table and out the door. Hurriedly she set her tea down and ran after him. 

“Vanitas! Wait! I wasn’t — ”

“Ask your stupid questions later. You kept me too long!!” 

_ Too long for what? _ She thought wildly, following Vanitas. He was moving so fast through the floor, she could just make out the small puddle of darkness the Flood created as he moved. 

She followed the trail of darkness as it led all the way back to the children’s room, where Vanitas was scratching frantically at the door. 

And where darkness was starting to emanate. 

“Terra!” Aqua shouted, summoning her blade. “Terra! Ven!!”

“Dammit!” Vanitas shouted, his tiny Flood arms doing little damage to the frame or wood. Something must have been prevented him from phasing through the door or warping into the room, as every time he ducked underground he’d pop back up not a moment later. 

“Aqua!” Ven shouted, running into the hall, Terra right behind him. “What’s— Woah…” He trailed off as soon as he saw the door. 

“Stop gawking and do something!” Vanitas shouted, still beating at the door. 

“What’s going on, Vanitas?” 

“What can we do?”

“We’re doing the best we—” Aqua cut herself off when she realized that Terra and Ven had also asked questions at the same time. 

Directed at Vanitas. 

Well, she supposed that confirmed that this was really not just a voice in her head. 

“Did you—?”

They all spoke at the same time again, before Terra held up a hand. 

“So…we can all hear him right?”

Aqua nodded, seeing Ven agreeing as well. 

“Yes yes, I’ve been talking to all of you off and on just to mess with you.” The admission came out fast as Vanitas climbed up Ven’s leg and chest to grab their attention quickly. “You can yell at me later for that. Kiddos  _ now _ .” 

Aqua gritted her teeth, not happy that it was Vanitas of all people who seemed to be giving orders, but he was right. She returned her attention to the door. “What if…” she trailed off with a frown, but held her keyblade out, focusing on pretending that the darkness was a lock. 

A glow emerged from her keyblade, echoed by similar lights from Ven and Terra’s keyblades. Together, all three of their lights hit the door, dissipating the darkness. Aqua heard a quiet click as something unlocked. 

"’Bout time!” 

Before Aqua could look at him, Vanitas had dived under the door. She kept a firm grasp on her keyblade as she reached for the door handle. Her hand barely touched the knob when she flinched back in shock. 

Despite unlocking the barrier, there was still darkness stemming from the door. 

What was going on in there?

It felt dangerous, and the spike of darkness that had come from the handle made her terrified to open the door. There was something in there. Something she didn’t want to see. 

“What’s wrong, Aqua?”

She glanced over at Ven and shook her head. She took hold of the door handle again. She could do this. She could open this door, she could—

“Together. The three of us.” 

A gentle, warm hand covered her own and she glanced up at Terra, meeting his solemn look with her own. A third hand joined in as Ven matched their determination, and they opened the door together. 

Darkness wafted over them in curls and tendrils, pulling at their hearts and their bodies. She felt Terra take her hand and she squeezed tightly. They could face this. 

Whatever it was. 

It took a while for her to realize what she was seeing, but as her eyes adjusted, it became apparent that Sora’s “shadow man” had not been a mere nightmare. There was some kind of figure drenched in shadows standing in the middle of the room. The darkness surrounded him completely obscured his features. And yet, Aqua recognized the stoop of the back. It was impossible to miss. 

It was Xehanort. 

Her keyblade came to her hand with barely a thought, Terra and Ven reaching for theirs as well. But they didn’t need to. Xehanort wasn’t even looking at them as they came in. 

Instead, the shadow man’s efforts were concentrated on the two boys huddling in the bed. Sora was trying to cover Riku bodily, and both of them seemed so small compared to the dark figure before them. Riku was wide awake as well, his arms around Sora’s waist and his grip on the boy’s pajamas tight. 

Aqua quickly glanced over to Kairi, finding the girl asleep and a bright white light emanating from her heart, repelling any darkness that tried to get near. 

_ Strange… _

But Aqua had to keep her attention on the boys instead. It was evident that they were the focus of Xehanort’s ire, but why hadn’t the man attacked?

It wasn’t until she moved further into the room, finally gaining Xehanort’s attention that her own gaze was distracted by the Flood standing between the man and the boys. Vanitas exuded his own darkness, somehow battling the tendrils emerging from the shadowed man. 

“Aqua look out!” 

She instinctively raised a barrier, a dark tendril hitting it and instantly dissipating.

She couldn’t see the man’s face, but she could picture that smirk. 

How was he here? 

“Do something!” Vanitas called out, his tiny Flood body taking a step back. “He got too strong before I got here. I can’t—” His plea was cut off when Xehanort sent a larger tendril of darkness towards him, knocking Vanitas off his feet completely and sending him back into the pillows next to Sora and Riku. 

Xehanort immediately stalked towards the bed. Sora pushed Riku further back against the headboard and stared at the shadows defiantly. 

“You can’t take him!” Sora shouted. 

“You can’t take Sora either!” Riku shouted as well, tightening his grip on Sora’s pajamas. 

Aqua didn’t know what Xehanort wanted with either of them, but she would make sure he wouldn’t get it. She rushed over to cast a barrier over them, and Vanitas then turned to Xehanort. 

He had already cast another tendril of darkness at her and she raised her keyblade to defend, but Ven beat her to it, deflecting the attack. Terra reached her side as well and together they faced off their old nemesis. 

It was a bit disturbing that they couldn’t see his face. It was even more worrying that he had returned at all. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t defeat the three of them before, and he wouldn’t beat them now. 

“Together.” 

Terra and Ven nodded and they held their keyblades aloft, Aqua raising hers to meet them. It was a move they had learned on their journey, but one that they would never forget. A move based entirely around their union. 

There was a bright, blinding light that burned all of Xehanort’s tendrils away, including the ones that Aqua thought had been obscuring his face. But when the light pierced through the darkness, there was nothing underneath. Just an old brown robe that disappeared with the rest of the darkness. 

Aqua thought that she saw something bright in the darkness for an instant before that, too, was burned away. 

As the light faded, Aqua found that every trace of shadow was gone from the room. Even the light that had been radiating from Kairi had faded, and the girl was still asleep (though Aqua noticed that her covers had been kicked off again.) 

“Bunny!” 

Aqua turned at Sora’s panicked shout and saw him and Riku cradling the Flood between them.

Vanitas looked a little worse for wear, and she realized that the same trinity move they had just used might have injured Vanitas as well. Or perhaps he was still weak from Xehanort’s attack. 

Either way, it was clear that the Flood body wouldn’t hold on for much longer. It looked battered and there were wisps of darkness wafting from it like steam from the tea she and Vanitas had shared earlier.

“Can you fix him?” 

It was Riku who asked, but he and Sora both stared up at her pleadingly. 

“Please?” Sora begged, cradling the Unversed’s body tightly to him. 

“I—” Aqua cut herself off. Would a Curaga work? She had never tried it on an enemy before. She knew the Unversed had their own ways to heal but—

“It’s fine.”

The voice was quiet and weak as Vanitas shuddered in Sora’s arms. “I’m pretty used to it by now.” 

Aqua gritted her teeth, glancing up to share a look with Ven and Terra. Both of them looked more resolved than she felt. And she knew that if she didn’t do this, they would. 

And her heal spells were stronger. 

She cast a Curaga straight on the Flood’s small body. There was a glow as the magic knitted together whatever sort of skin the creature had. The wafts of darkness disappeared completely. 

The boys cheered, which finally woke Kairi up.

“What’s going on?” She rubbed under her eyes and yawned. “Why is everyone here? Is it morning already?” 

“You missed it Kairi! Bunny saved us!!” Sora’s excitement was infectious despite the late hour. 

Despite her confusion, Kairi hopped out of bed anyway and wandered over, stumbling a bit in her half-asleep state. She took a seat next to Sora and petted Vanitas. 

“He did?”

“Yeah!” Sora cheered, hugging the Flood close, much to Vanitas’s dismay.

“You slept through it.” Riku crossed his arms. “It was pretty cool, though.” 

“It was scary,” Sora said. “That shadow guy wanted to suck out your soul or something.” 

“No, he didn’t!” Riku argued. “He was gonna suck out your soul.”

“Nuh-uh!” Sora stuck out his tongue. 

While they argued over whose soul was on the line, Ven took a seat next to them and gently took Vanitas from Sora’s grip. The brown-haired boy didn’t even really notice, much more concerned with listing Riku’s good qualities (which apparently made a much yummier meal for any soul-sucking shadow man). Kairi helped him think of more whenever Sora started to run out of ideas. Riku’s face was steadily getting redder and redder until he cut Sora off by starting to list out Sora’s good qualities as well. 

Ven let out a chuckle as now Sora’s face started to turn red as well, and stood up from the bed, walking over to where Aqua and Terra were still standing. Aqua looked down at the Flood in Ven’s arms, still trying to process what had just happened. 

“Why’d you save me?” Vanitas asked her, his jagged red eyes looking as shocked as they could. 

_ Because I hadn’t finished questioning you.  _

The words were right on Aqua’s tongue, but they didn’t feel right. Instead, she offered the Vanitas a small smile, probably shocking him more. 

“Because you’re part of this family now.”

—-

There was a brief argument in the kitchen the next morning over why none of them had told the others that the Unversed was talking to them, though Aqua was unsurprised to hear that they had the same fears as her over whether or not the voice was real. Then they had an argument over what to do next. 

Ven wanted to put Vanitas into a humanoid body. 

Surprisingly, Vanitas wasn’t thrilled with the concept. 

“No way!” Vanitas huffed, curling up tighter as if trying to disappear from view. “A body hurts all the time. Why the hell would I want that?”

“A body...hurts?” Aqua frowned, wondering what he meant.

“It doesn’t have to hurt,” Ven murmured quietly, taking a seat next to the Unversed. “I don’t hurt. And you and I are kind of the same. But not really. Not anymore.”

Vanitas looked up at him but didn’t look too convinced. 

“Well, if you’re gonna help train Sora, Riku, and Kairi, I’m sure having a real body would help.” Terra’s reasoning was sound, though the words only served to shock the Unversed further. 

“Training? Why the hell would I—?”

“Because clearly, we need your help,” Aqua cut in before the Unversed could raise his voice too loudly. The kids weren’t that far away, coloring quieting on the table Terra and Ven had dragged outside earlier in the summer. Kairi was a little upset that she had missed all the action, but Sora and Riku were trying to include her as much as possible in the drama-filled retelling. 

The two boys didn’t look worse for wear, though she noticed Sora would often reach over and touch Riku's hand or wrist, checking to make sure his friend was still there. In return, Riku would look at Sora with a fond, soft look. 

Aqua couldn’t help but dread puberty with those two. Just a little bit. She remembered what it was like for her and Terra. 

She suddenly felt very sorry for Master Eraqus. 

She shook her head, ridding herself of those bittersweet thoughts. She remembered what Vanitas had said about hurt, and what Xehanort had mentioned about the creatures that emerged from the masked boy. 

If Vanitas only knew negative emotions like grief and loss, no wonder he hurt all the time. 

Aqua took a deep breath, trying to let go of the reservations she had that were based on fear and prejudice. If Terra would find a way to work with both light and dark, then she could learn to accept Vanitas for who he was. She could work with that and try to help him get better. 

“I have a feeling the Xehanort is still out there. And we’ll need your help to get rid of him for good. Which means that you’re going to need a sturdier body.” She knelt down to better meet Vanitas eye to eye. “I can’t promise it’s not going to hurt sometimes, but I can promise that we’ll do our best to help you face your hurt.”

Vanitas held her gaze for a long moment, then there was a soft sound from the Flood, one that Aqua recognized as a sigh of resignation. 

“How are you guys even gonna create a new body for me?”

Ahh. Well. 

Aqua hadn’t thought of that yet. 

To her surprise though, Ven and Terra looked at each other. 

“What about that one guy in Radiant Garden?” Ven asked. 

“That guy who had a very unhealthy interest in you?” Terra crossed his arms. “Well… he does seem like he would be the most eager to try.”

“Who…?” Aqua trailed off when Ven leaned down to pick Vanitas up from the ground, much to the Unversed’s dismay.

“We’ve got this, okay?” Ven grinned at her. “You get the job of explaining all this to Yen Sid when he gets here.”

With that, the three hurried out the door, leaving her with the kids. Again. 

And the prospect of a Former Master arriving shortly. Yen Sid had responded immediately to their message that had listed their concerns and had scheduled an arrival within an hour. 

Aqua suddenly wished she was just a mere apprentice again. 

Luckily, the kids all wanted to go play tag in the yard when the Yen Sid arrived, so she could explain the past few months with Vanitas with few distractions. As they sipped tea on a bench nearby overlooking the yard, she stumbled over explaining just how the kids had found their “Bunny.” She also faltered over describing Vanitas’s nightly vigils over the kids and him fighting back Xehanort’s darkness every night to try to keep the kids safe. 

“Apparently Xehanort had been getting stronger night after night,” Aqua explained, still feeling foolish for never noticing that the man had been invading her home while she slept. Or rather, tried to sleep. “Vanitas explained that midnight was usually the hour he would show up and would disappear again by one.”

“Interesting. And you would wake up from your own slumber shortly thereafter?” 

“I—” she hadn’t connected those dots. Was that why she woke up? But why hadn't she woken up during any of the attacks? Why hadn’t Kairi? Sora had evidently woken up enough to see Xehanort’s form and had understood that it was after Riku. Why hadn’t she sensed  _ anything? _

“Calm yourself, Aqua.” Yen Sid ran a hand through his beard. “It is possible that Xehanort placed a sleep spell over you. If I am not mistaken, the hour you woke at night was likely when the spell wore off. The hour past midnight is when the darkness is deepest, and so Xehanort was able to phase into this world.” 

His gaze moved towards the boys as they chased Kairi around their coloring table, all three laughing as if last night had never happened.    
  
“Sora and Riku may have felt the Xehanort’s presence in their nightmares for the last few months, which is why Sora warned of a shadow man,” Yen Sid continued, “It appears that Vanitas used his pure connection with the darkness to hold Xehanort back, even as Xehanort strengthened his hold on this realm.”

“How was he able to be in the realm of light at all?” Aqua questioned. “It was like he was pure darkness wrapped in a robe and…” she trailed off with a shrug, then remembered the light that had appeared at the very end. “And a light. Was that his—?”

“His heart, yes,” Yen Sid agreed. “What you saw was Xehanort reduced to just a heart. And I fear he was looking for a new body. His attempt to possess Terra was foiled by you and Ventus.”

“Right,” Aqua nodded, then glanced over at Sora and Riku. Was that why Xehanort was after them? 

She remembered Sora’s insistence that Xehanort had been after Riku specifically. 

But nothing bad had happened. She felt another wave of relief flow through her at the memory that nothing had happened to either of them. 

“But why was Kairi unaffected?” Aqua wondered aloud.

“Ahh. I had meant to ask.” Yen Sid turned his gaze to her directly, and Aqua suddenly felt very small. 

“What possessed you to pass on the power to one of the Princesses of Heart?” 

Aqua gulped, and suddenly Kairi’s stronger than usual light made a lot more sense. “Uh, well… you see…”

She couldn’t tell the Master that she had done it completely on accident. 

“Why is your face all red, Master Aqua?” Sora ran up to her in worry. “Are you poisoned?!” 

“If you’re poisoned you need to cast a Cure spell!” Kairi suggested.

“Or drink a potion.” Riku immediately began checking his pockets for one. 

Aqua coughed into her hand, hearing Master Yen Sid chuckle quietly beside her. “It’s nothing. I’m fine okay. You guys just go back to playing.”

They all looked at her a little disbelievingly but did as she suggested anyway. 

“Your Master would have been very proud.” 

Her breath caught in her throat at Yen Sid’s words and she felt tears come to her eyes. 

“I hope so.” 

\---

The kids stared up at the black-haired boy in confusion. 

To be fair, Aqua was confused as well. 

The boy looked so much like an older, grumpier version of Sora. Black spiky hair and gold eyes, tanned skin, and barely Ven’s height. Aqua had remembered the masked boy being taller, but she realized that some of that height might have been the attitude.

And maybe his shoes. 

Vanitas crossed his arms. “What?”

“Why do you look like Sora?” Riku’s voice was blunt. 

“Why does Sora look like me?” Vanitas countered. “I’m pretty sure I looked like this before he looked like that.” 

“Yeah, but—” Aqua was cut off by Ven’s hand on her shoulder.

“It’s complicated. We can fill you in later. But basically, this is how Vani remembers himself.”

“Vani?” 

Her voice was echoed by an equally confused and shocked male one as Vanitas protested his new nickname. 

“You didn’t answer the question! Who  _ are _ you? I feel like I know you.”

This time the voice came from Sora and he looked up at Vanitas, still confused. 

Aqua frowned, looking away for a moment, trying to figure out how to best explain it to the kids that their pet had turned into the boy before them. 

Suddenly, she heard Vanitas let out a startled, irritated sound. 

“Maybe this will help, guys!” 

Aqua turned back, blinking in shock. Atop of Vanitas’s head was a pair of plastic black bunny ears attached to a sort of headband that Ven was adjusting. 

“They don’t need—” Vanitas huffed, crossing his arms. “I’m gonna beat you later.”

“No you won’t,” Ven’s grin widened. “Sora would be upset.” 

“Bunny?” Sora’s voice held a sense of awe. 

“It’s Vanitas,” the dark-haired boy huffed. “Didn’t you ever get that ‘V’ sound down? ‘Va-ni-tas.”

“Bun-ny-tas,” Sora repeated, though his grin matched Ven’s, so Aqua figured that he knew exactly what he had done. “Bunny!” He wrapped his arms around Vanitas’s waist as best as he could. 

“Bunny!” Kairi repeated, stepping up as well, to envelop the older boy in a hug, Riku joining in to complete the circle. 

Vanitas looked a bit panicked. “What… What are they doing?!”

“You know what a hug is, Vanitas,” Aqua pointed out. The kids had given their bunny hugs often enough.

“They’re showing that they care about you and missed you while you were gone,” Ven explained. 

Vanitas’s ever-present frown deepened a bit but he laid a hand on Sora’s head in acknowledgment. 

Aqua grinned at the sight. They would be okay. No matter what Xehanort had in store for them next, she felt that they would all be able to face it, especially now that Vanitas’s gruff and grumpy methods were added to the mix.

Besides, she would never want to separate their apprentices from their new friend. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, please leave a comment! I loved writing this fic so much and I'm glad so many are enjoying it as well! 
> 
> You can follow me on [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/Green_eggs101) if you want. :D I sometimes post snippets of upcoming fics.
> 
> Please check out this [ amazing artwork ](https://twitter.com/TheFauxsynder/status/1195050753779544065) created by[ @TheFauxsynder ](https://twitter.com/TheFauxsynder). It's a _perfect_ comic of the hide and seek scene!!!
> 
> And check out this [ amazing artwork ](https://twitter.com/shyrstyne/status/1194693821197479936) of Sora, Riku, and Kairi hugging a soft and slightly overwhelmed Vanitas, created by [ @shyrstyne!!](https://twitter.com/shyrstyne) I love the kids' excitement to hug their _Bunny_ again.


End file.
